Channeling Cleopatra Read Free Page B

underground
parking at the VA Hospital, she turned off her lights and cut the
engine.
    "Eating can wait," she told her friend.
"Before we get interrupted by your keepers, please explain why you
talk about yourself in the plural. It makes me want to get you one
of those T-shirts that says, 'I'm schizophrenic and so am I.' You
are not, to the best of my knowledge, an editor, royalty, or a head
of state, so what gives?"
    "You must keep an open mind, Leda," the
passenger said, looking rather small, frail, and worried.
    "I'm listening," Leda said as patiently as
possible.
    "As we told you, though this body originally
belonged only to Tsering Jetsun, it now contains the personalities
and memories of both of us: Tsering and Chime."
    Leda stared hard in the darkness at Chime's
uncertain, diffident smile on Tsering's rather thin mouth. "Okay,"
she said cautiously. "How did that happen? Where's the rest of
Chime?"
    "She died, Leda. Or at least, her body died.
And when she died, Tsering almost died, too; both of us nearly
ceased to be. Tsering would neither eat nor sleep, did nothing but
work, until Chime came to him in a dream and showed him how our
research could be combined into a process that would allow him to
use her DNA to incorporate her genetic and cellular memory—which is
far more extensive than formerly supposed—into his own. Since our
blending, we have become a new person, Chimera, and are the result
of the first trial of this process. As you can see, it was
successful."
    "If you say so," Leda replied after drawing
a couple of long, slow breaths. "I mean, it does seem that your two
hearts now beat as one, but other than that, how far does it go,
this cellular memory? And how did you—well, transfer—or transplant
it? I've heard of organ transplants where the recipient starts
having the same vices or food cravings as the donor, but what
you're talking about sounds a lot deeper than that kind of
thing."
    "Oh, yes. It is. In us it is as if Chime's
soul has joined Tsering's in a perfect blending of the two of us.
We have been very happy ever since our blending. But of course, we
were very happy and very close before Chime's death. And we knew
each other well, were always in each other's thoughts, could
sometimes read each other's minds. Therefore, the transition has
been uncommonly smooth and peaceful. Others have not achieved quite
the same union, although most have been successful."
    "What others? You mean, you
didn't just do this to yourself? You've . . . uh . . . already
blended others? Did I miss 60
Minutes the day they aired that
episode?"
    "Those wishing to undergo the process are
sworn to secrecy. Even those we told about it initially were."
    "Good advertising strategy. Nothing to get
the word spread like telling everybody to keep their mouth shut.
And if it's such a big secret, why are you evading your security
and telling me?"
    "We need help, and we feel that you are the
one from whom we should seek it."
    "I'm flattered, but it's been a long time
since we've seen each other. What made you think of me after all
these years?"
    "Your interest in Egypt, of course. What we
need you to do is represent the company's scientific interests in
Alexandria."
    Leda nearly hit the roof of her car.
"Really? But . . . don't you need an expert?"
    "You are already an expert in DNA extraction
and fingerprinting. These are the main professional skills we
require. What we need even more is someone we can trust. We have
never had many friends besides each other, Leda. You were one of
the few people in whom Chime confided, and until our blending,
Tsering knew nothing of the confidences Chime shared with you. For
his part, Tsering was very pleased at your absolute secrecy
concerning Chime's surprise birthday party when we were all at
university—"
    "So it wasn't my high security clearance
that told you I could keep my mouth shut?" Leda asked.
    Chimera laughed. Now that she knew what the
story was with Chimera, Leda felt more comfortable